Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Ultimate big game caliber

Trying to get info about the best all around big game cartridge is far to complicated so I have opted to reduce the available argument down to the best all around caliber!

My guess is that the 7 will get the most votes however the big 30 might have a chance to dethrone the 7.

Or has the mighty 6.5 dethrowned them ALL? I think not

When results are in and the campfire has chosen a caliber, let's start a new thread to determine the campfires opinion of which cartridge would best suit the caliber.



Trystan

I vote 7 even though I don't own one at the moment


Trystan

270..... case closed.....

The idea of "best" is a faulty place to start - there is no such thing. Everything is a compromise weighted one way or another. Pick something with compromises you can live with and get on with it...

Saying that, makes the most sense, but I still say the great 7mm!

I Edited to say " best all around" rather than best

Trystan

"Best all around" calibers start at .358" and go up from there

In the Brad'mistic view...which will never be confused with an optimistic view...ask for the caliber with the least compromises.

I'll add another vote for 7mm. Lots of different rounds in that caliber from heavy to light powder charges pushing it, good bullets available, bullets with good on-game performance, wide range of bullet weights, generally has a bc advantage over 30's, has a diameter and weight advantage over 6.5's.

When all of North America is factored in for “all around” cartridge.….the .338 WM gets my vote! memtb

I like where your heads at MR!

.338
I just don't want to shoot one anymore.

Give me a non- magnum 7mm, please.

I can’t argue with either of these two……much wisdom shown here! Though, from a pure availability stand point…… I still think that the .338 WM should be in strong consideration!

If a “world all around” is thrown into the mix…. ..one of the good high velocity.375’s or .416’s should be at the top of the list! If for no other reasons, than legalities for some African game species! memtb

I'm more than incline to agree with that comment. However I'm also inclined to ask, "best for what? In what context will this "all round" caliber be used? Will there at some time need to use it on something big and ugly? Then something in a .358" bullet might be the best choice. case in point, I like my .35 Whelen when I hunt elk.

Probably 90 percent or more of my hunts have been with a 30 caliber something, usually a .308 Win. or 30-06. Even the old 30-30 has been used, all three giving great success. The .300 Win. Mag. has also put its foot in the door.

When it comes to the 7MMs though, my luck had been from bad to worse. No problems regarding accuracy but the only deer I've ever lost are two, both shot with the 7x57, a cartridge I continue to play with. A .280 Rem. custom went on a couple of elk hunts and never saw any game. Back up rifle was the Whelen and when I switched finding elk was easy.

I'm thinking that one's experience with different calibers would affect one's decision. It has for me anyway so considering he fact that I'll probably never hunt where I might meet up with something big and ugly like a Kodiak Bear with me on the blue plate special, I'll still consider a .35 of some sort, excluding the .35 Rem. as a choice for all round caliber with .30 being a very close second place. Naturally, YMMV.
PJ

It's the 30-06 of course.

.35 Whelen with 250 grainers ain’t a bad choice.

I have to agree with 7mm.

I agree with both notions.

Although handloading can make those .338 rifles more useful and less abusive for everyday use.

"all around" encompasses a LOT of animals so I'll go with the 375 H&H,

It's a tie. 280 and 30-30. 😇

My first big game rifle was a .30-06. For about 10 years I shot everything that I could from prairie dogs to elk with it. Then I learned that there are a whole lot of different calibers and cartridges that work best for certain game or situations. So now, 50 some years after I got my first .30-06, I have a safe full of different rifles from .22 Rimfire to .375 RUM, so I can pick the one that best fits what I am going to shoot or hunt.

My favorite rifle is my .300 Weatherby.

The rifle that put the most elk in my freezer was my .30 Gibbs.

The rifle that I shot the most deer and antelope with is my .257 Ackley.

The rifles that I shoot the most are both Weatherby Vanguards, one in .223 and the other in .308 Win.
I shoot both of them on my almost weekly trips to the range, and both will consistantly hit targets out to 400+ yards.
The .223 has very little recoil and is very cheap to reload. But I would not take it elk hunting.

In over 50 years of big game hunting, I've kind of gone overboard with having animals mounted. I currently have 77 big game mounts of 63 species in my house.
The rifle that put the most game animals on my wall (20) is my 7 mm Rem Mag.
I have a 3 way tie for the rifles that put the second most animals on my walls with 14 each, my .300 Wby, .375 RUM, and .257 Ackley.

The caliber that has given my taxidermist my most business is .30 with 25 animals.

I feel very fortunate that I now have a safe full of rifles in different calibers and cartridges so that when I go on a hunt I can pick the cartridge and caliber that best fits the animal(s) that I will be hunting.